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Seven new large wildfires reported: Texas wildfire update - May 25, 2011*


From the Texas Forest Service


By Staff Report
Posted May 25, 2011 at 9:41 a.m.


SAN ANGELO, Texas --- Current situation:


Texas Forest Service responded to seven new large fires yesterday.
The Wolf Fire in Archer County was contained yesterday at 500 acres.
We are currently working on seven major fires that have burned a
total of 34,300 acres.
188 of the 254 Texas counties are reporting burn bans.


New large fires from Tuesday:


SIERRA BLANCA, Deaf Smith County. 7,600 acres, 95 percent containment.
Twenty-five homes, several barns and power lines are threatened.
Multiple structures were lost. This fire is 5 miles southeast of Hereford.


REESE CENTER, Lubbock County. 1,200 acres, 90 percent containment. 50
homes and industrial center threatened. Located on the outskirts of
Lubbock. Reese Air Force Base complex was threatened; 140 homes
threatened, 2 outbuildings and 8 vehicles have been destroyed.


MIDDLETON, Garza County. 2,000 acres, 60 percent containment. Multiple
homes and outbuildings threatened. This fire is 10 miles northeast of Post.


CANYON, Randall County. 5,000 acres, 50 percent containment. Students
from a local youth camp were evacuated. One home lost, several are still
threatened. This fire is 3 miles southeast of Canyon. The Los Diablos
handcrew from Big Bend has been ordered for this fire.


CEED, Midland County. 2,500 acres, 90 percent containment. Multiple
homes and sports complex threatened. Located on the outskirts of
Midland. The fire crossed Loop 250 and evacuations occurred. One
outbuilding lost.


DERICK, Andrews County. 14,500 acres, unknown containment. Structures
and oil infrastructure were threatened. This fire is 18 miles southeast
of Andrews.


Unknown Name, Winkler County. 1,500 acres, unknown containment. Located
approximately 19 miles northeast of Kermit.


Weather Outlook:


Poor relative humidity recoveries are expected tomorrow morning as the
dryline will struggle to retreat westward. However, a cold front passage
is expected tomorrow which will help low humidities rebound in northern
portions of the Panhandle. As the front drops through the state, the
dryline will surge eastward and establish just near the I-35 corridor.
Behind the dryline, humidities will drop to the low 5-12 percent from
the South Plains to the Concho Valley and westward through Far West Texas.


Winds behind the dryline will decrease compared to yesterday but 20-30
mph winds are expected for the High Plains area, 20-25 mph across the
South Plains and Permian Basin and 15-20 mph around the Lower Trans
Pecos. Therefore, areas from the South Plains to the Concho Valley and
west up the Guadalupes can expect critical fire weather conditions as
stronger winds will combine with low humidities. East of the dryline,
isolated thunderstorms can be expected around the Metroplex east to the
Piney Woods. Humidities will be in the 40-60 percent range. Temperatures
across the state will range from the upper 70s in the High Plains to the
low 100s for the Lower Trans Pecos and Rio Grande Valley.


San Angelo Standard Times.

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Texas farmers, ranchers see losses growing as severe drought continues*


By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, May 25, 2:29 AM


LUBBOCK, Texas --- A historic drought has already cost Texas farmers and
ranchers an estimated $1.5 billion, and the cost is growing daily as
parched conditions persist in much of the state.


May is typically the wettest month in Texas, but parts of the state
haven't seen significant rain since last August. Officials said if the
drought continues into June, losses for the nation's second largest
agriculture producer will top $4 billion, making it the costliest season
on record.


( Betsy Blaney / Associated Press ) - In this May 19, 2011 photo, Tyler
Gray stirs up a cloud of dust as pulls a tiller across a dry cotton
field near Lubbock, Texas, trying to break up hardened ground. A
historic drought has already cost Texas farmers and ranchers an
estimated $1.5 billion, and the cost is growing daily as parched
conditions persist in much of the state.


"We're well on our way to breaking the record of the past," said Carl
Anderson, an agricultural economist with Texas AgriLife Extension
Service, referring to the 2006 season.


Anderson is 79 and has seen many droughts, but he said this year looks
as bad as anything since the record dry years of the 1950s.


"This (drought) will match anything I saw in the '50s," he said.


The Lubbock area between Nov. 1 and Tuesday got just 1.17 inches of rain
--- about 17 percent of the normal 6.70 inches for that span.


Meteorologists blame the conditions on La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific
waters near the equator. It's caused extreme drought in Texas and parts
of Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico even as much of the eastern half
of the nation endured wet, cold weather.


The drought has dried up cattle ponds and grass crunches underfoot in
many fields.


Texas livestock producers have seen the biggest losses --- about $1.2
billion of the $1.5 billion total, which includes increased feeding
costs to pay for hay, lost value of wheat pasture grazing and the high
costs associated with hauling water daily to meet animals' needs,
Anderson said.


About 90 percent of Texas' beef cows are located in counties in severe
to exceptional drought.


For some farmers, the season is already lost, but there's still time for
those in some regions. In the South Plains region of West Texas around
Lubbock, for example, cotton can be planted as late as June.


Still, Anderson estimates South Plains producers will produce 2 million
bales less of dryland cotton --- grown in fields that aren't irrigated
--- than usual, resulting in a $1.2 billion loss.


Texas typically plants about half the U.S.'s cotton acreage, so a
large-scale failure could cause a price spike, though that would depend
on crops elsewhere in the U.S. and in other countries as well as demand.


West Texas cotton producer Rickey Bearden usually plants dryland cotton
on about two-thirds of his 9,000 acres. Without rain, he said most of
that will be lost.


"It doesn't look bright right at the moment but I haven't given up yet,"
Bearden said. "We'll have to have some help from Mother Nature."


State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said farmers are running out of
time. If rains don't arrive soon, "it'll be too hot for the crops to
recover," he said.


The drought also comes when farmers already were faced with increased
costs for fertilizer and diesel.


Some ranchers, faced with no hay crop, have opted to reduce the size of
their herds rather than pay up to $2 a day per head to truck in feed.


East Texas cattle producer Phil Sadler, who's ranched for about 35
years, said he could go out of business if it remains dry.


"At least we'll have to scale down and do things a little differently,"
the 64-year-old said. "If it doesn't rain it wouldn't be life as usual.
Things will have to change."


Texas has a long history with droughts, and since 1998, they have cost
Texas agriculture $13.1 billion.


Anderson said the rest of the spring will determine how this year ranks
in the history of Texas droughts.


"It's early," Anderson said. "The question is do we get rain in the next
four weeks to salvage some of the plantings."

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Please remember to keep our Sister, Texas Sue in your prayers, we haven't heard from her, therefore, we don't know if she is alright!

God Bless!

Valerie